The Theory Of Relativity
Albert Einstein Biography
Albert Einstein Biography



The Theory Of Relativity was discovered in 1905. By Newton's laws, two frames of reference moving with constant velocity relative to each other observe exactly the same physical behavior. There exists no way to tell, which of them is moving and which one is at rest: there is no "absolute frame of rest" and no "absolute velocity. " Everything is relative, and either frame can be chosen as reference benchmark." says Newton. Einstein elaborated on the ideas of light asking himself since an early age what it would be like to ride light. That question was what got him thinking about science. But well after that first question his science career began. Einstein had been working on this theory for a while but then in 1905 Einstein published his special Theory Of Relativity, and his general Theory Of Relativity which was published 10 years later in 1915. His work further explained this theory talking about frame of reference and perspective. These are the main points of Special Relativity.

  • Relativity of simultaneity: Two events, simultaneous for some observer, may not be simultaneous for another observer if the observers are in relative motion.

  • Time dilalation: Moving clocks are measured to tick more slowly than an observer's "stationary" clock.

  • Length contraction: Objects are measured to be shortened in the direction that they are moving with respect to the observer.


  • Mass-energy equivalence: E = mc2, energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable.

The defining feature of special relativity is the replacement of the Galilean transformations of classical mechanics. (nasa, Theory of Relativity)
General relativity is a theory of gravitation developed by Einstein and published 1915. The development of general relativity began with the equivalence principle, under which the states of accelerated motion and being at rest in a gravitational field (for example when standing on the surface of the Earth) are physically identical. The upshot of this is that free fall is inertial motion: In other words an object in free fall is falling because that is how objects move when there is no force being exerted on them, instead of this being due to the force of gravity as is the case in classical mechanics. This is incompatible with classical mechanics and special relativity because in those theories inertially moving objects cannot accelerate with respect to each other, but objects in free fall do so. To resolve this difficulty Einstein first proposed that spacetime is curved. In 1915, he devised the Einstein field equations which relate the curvature of spacetime with the mass, energy, and momentum within it. (nasa, theory of relativity).
Albert Einsteins understanding of E = mc2 helped create the atomic bomb that completely distroyed iwo jima and nagasaki in world war 2. Also many of Einsteins questions are still asked today. Einstein was believed to be at least fifty years ahead of his time. Einstein died in April 18, 1955(google)
external image Einstein.jpg
work cited
http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Srelativ.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/General_relativity.html